(Photo courtesy of: vivaelbirdos.com)
What would seem like a daunting task for someone that did not grow up around America’s past time, one man has been assimilated right into the thick of it. Seung Hwan Oh has made his presence felt in arguably, the best market in baseball, and he’s only been stateside 4 months.
The 33 year old Korean Reliever, also know as “The Final Boss” or “Stone Buddha” has had a better than anticipated start to his year. With a 2.08 ERA in 8.2 innings, Oh has cemented himself as the go-to-guy for the Cardinals in close games. His opponent’s are hitting just under .050 in his last four outings, not to mention his 13 K’s.
The 5’10” right armed strikeout specialist was courted by Cardinals General Manager, John Mozeliak for a contract that began in 2016 for $5 million, and the club holds an option for 2017 as well. Safe to say that ‘Mo’ has found another diamond in the rough. “We like his stuff against lefties,” manager Mike Matheny said. “We’re going to get more opportunities to see it.” (quote courtesy of Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch). But what does this mean for the plethora of young Cardinal bullpen arms?
Well, it could mean:
-Less Seth Maness, who has an unimpressive strikeout to walk ratio and bloated 8.31 ERA in 4 1/3 innings this year.
-Less Johnathon Broxton, who already has a specialized role with the team, coming in when games are out of hand of giving the guys mentioned above some rest.
-More of Oh in a late inning role should current closer, Trevor Rosenthal lose focus. The Cardinal newcomer has a total of 357 saves internationally. He could assume the role. Competition breeds success, and the tandem of Oh and Rosenthal looks to be lethal.
Oh claims, “I’ve achieved everything in Korea and Japan, both countries, as a closer,” Oh said, speaking through a translator. “So I wanted a new environment and was looking for motivation and a new challenge. That was why I decided to join MLB.” Well ‘Oh’ my goodness, has he rose to the challenge, and became the newest member to join the spotlight amongst the hearts of Cardinal Nation.
